I Don't Care What They Say
by Acting-Singing-Bella
Summary: “What are you doing here?” He asked in confusion. Holding back tears, she pushed back his hair and smiled sadly. “I don’t care what they say. I’m in love with you Troy Bolton. They can’t stop me.”


**I Don't Care What They Say**

**Author's note: ****Hey everyone! Okay so I checked out the poll and it seemed that most of you wanted to see this story put in HSM. But I promise I am going to make a Camp Rock story! So please read and review this and I will make a Camp Rock story in return. This story is loosely based on 'Bleeding Love' by pop sensation Leona Lewis.**

**Summary: ****"What are you doing here?" He asked in confusion. Holding back tears, she pushed back his hair and smiled sadly. "I don't care what they say. I'm in love with you Troy Bolton. They can't stop me."**

* * *

_But I don't care what they say  
I'm in love with you  
They try to pull me away  
But they don't know the truth  
My heart's crippled by the vein  
That I keep on closing  
You cut me open and I_

_Keep bleeding  
Keep, keep bleeding love  
I keep bleeding  
I keep, keep bleeding love  
Keep bleeding  
Keep, keep bleeding love  
You cut me open _

**-"Bleeding Love" by Leona Lewis.**

**--**

Gabriella Montez sat in her biology class and she sighed to herself. It was almost lunch time, but Gabriella was exhausted and had no energy. She hadn't been able to sleep for a couple of days. It wasn't that she was worried about school or anything; she just hadn't been able to sleep. Her father had thought that maybe she had insomnia and wanted her to go for testing, but she refused because she didn't feel that it was that bad. Gabriella figured that it was just a phase she was going through where she didn't feel the need to sleep. But that didn't stop her father from worrying about her. He was always worrying about Gabriella. About a year ago, Gabriella's mother had developed a serious insomnia problem and she began to use sleeping pills to help her sleep. But one night, she lost track at how many she actually took and she died of an overdose. Gabriella's father, Louis never recovered.

As much as Gabriella loved her father, she hated that he was protective of her. He always asked her questions about where she was going and who she was going out with and if she was five minutes late; her father would have a panic attack. Gabriella knew that he was just heartbroken about her mother's death and wanted to hold onto her as much as he could, but she wished that he would know that she was going to become an adult soon; he couldn't treat her like a little girl. But it bugged her that he always judged her friends. He always thought that Sharpay was trouble and Taylor was a know-it-all. Gabriella just ignored him most of the time when he said stuff like that.

When the lunch bell rang, Gabriella packed up her stuff and she waltzed out of the classroom and she went straight to her locker to put her books away and wait for Taylor and Sharpay. As Gabriella threw in the last of her books, she grabbed her lunch money that was in the pocket of her jeans and she closed her locker and she leaned against it, waiting for her friends to show. As she waited, another friendly face came and leaned up on the locker next to hers. It was Troy Bolton; her friend and secret crush. Troy and Gabriella both liked each other but both were too smooth to make it obvious to anyone and each other. Gabriella always felt warm when he was around.

"Hey Gabby." Troy said with a smile as he leaned up against the locker. Gabriella gladly returned the smile, becoming a pro at not blushing while she was around him.

"Hey Troy, what's up?" Gabriella casually asked.

"Nothing much, I've got a basketball practice in half an hour. What about you? You have lunch now?" Troy asked coolly. Gabriella nodded her head with a soft and gentle smile.

"Yeah I'm just waiting for Sharpay and Taylor to come." Gabriella said. Troy shuddered when he heard their names.

"I still can't get over you being best friends with the ice queen and the freaky science girl." Troy said, trying to be as humorous as he could. Gabriella smiled weakly and smacked his arm. Troy wasn't really close with Sharpay and Taylor and vice versa.

"Oh shut up! They are great once you get to know them." Gabriella told him. Troy nodded and shrugged his shoulders.

"Yeah, if they would even let me get to know them." Troy mumbled. Before Gabriella could say anything in return, Sharpay and Taylor arrived and their smiles instantly fell when they saw Troy standing with Gabriella. Gabriella smiled and waved to them.

"Hey guys!" Gabriella chimed happily as she hugged them both. They greeted her with hugs and smiles and they glared at Troy as Gabriella gave him a hug goodbye.

"I'll talk to you later, okay? I'll text you." Gabriella told him as she let go of him.

"Sounds cool. See you later." Troy said as he walked down the hall and Gabriella and her friends walked down the other. Sharpay looked at her best friend and she raised her eyebrows.

"Gabriella, why are you even friends with him? He's nothing but a no-brainer jerk, who screws around with a bunch of girls." Sharpay told her, loathing clearly in her voice. Taylor nodded in agreement.

"His whole world revolves around basketball and his truck. You know that if anything were to happen between the two of you, you're just going to get hurt in the end. He will take advantage of you and he will get you into trouble." Taylor warned like she was Gabriella's mother. Gabriella looked at her beast friends with wide, hurt eyes. So much for always being best friends.

"Guys, Troy is just a really close friend. And I would appreciate it if you didn't judge him like that. You guys don't even know him!" Gabriella exclaimed as they walked into the cafeteria. Taylor stopped walking and she pointed to Troy and Jason having a food fight with the rest of their basketball team. Gabriella watched them intently as Sharpay and Taylor both stared at her.

"I think we know him enough." Sharpay snapped. Taylor rolled her eyes as she dragged Gabriella to their table, Gabriella not even peeling her eyes off Troy.

--

Gabriella sat on her bed and she finished up her algebra homework. The time was about nine o'clock at night and Gabriella was almost ready to turn in for bed. Answering her final question, Gabriella closed her textbook and pushed them off her bed with a worn-out sigh. She wanted her father to stop patronizing her about going to see a doctor and get treatment for insomnia so she was hoping that she would fall asleep tonight. Before Gabriella could even turn off her lamp, she heard a knock at her balcony door. She looked up and her eyes widened at who she saw. It was Troy; he climbed up a tree to get up to her balcony and see her. Immediately throwing her blankets off her, Gabriella went to her balcony door and she unlocked it and she stared at Troy in awe. What was her doing here?

"Troy, what are you doing?" Gabriella asked. Troy looked into her dark brown eyes and Gabriella could see that he was nervous or worried.

"I need to talk to you." Troy told her, almost out of breath. Gabriella raised her eyebrows at him.

"Uh, the phone?" Gabriella suggested, thinking that he was oblivious to forms of communication. Troy shook his head and just stared deeply into her eyes, unable to break contact.

"This isn't something I could talk to you over the phone about." Troy told her. Worry suddenly took over Gabriella. She feared that something was wrong and that Troy was in trouble.

"Troy, are you okay? You're scaring me." Gabriella told him, noticing that his knees were shaking. Troy shook his head and he motioned for her to come onto the balcony.

"Come out here and I'll tell you." Troy told her as she followed him out onto the balcony. Gabriella and Troy leaned up against the rail on her balcony and they looked up at the stars, with soft smiles on their faces.

"The stars look beautiful tonight. As usual, I guess." Gabriella said, ending the silence between them. Troy looked at her and he smiled nervously as he shook his head.

"No. They aren't beautiful." Troy stated. Gabriella looked over at him in confusion. She had never in all her life heard anyone say that the stars weren't beautiful; they were the most beautiful thing in the world.

"What? How can you say that, Troy?" Gabriella asked. Troy stared deeply into her chocolate brown orbs and he smiled as he pushed back a stray hair behind Gabriella's ear.

"Because all the stars in the sky cannot compare to the beauty of your smile." Troy told her, his boldness clearly showing itself. Gabriella stared at him and swore that her heart skipped two beats. Did Troy Bolton just tell her that she had a beautiful smile? Did Troy have feelings for her too? Or was this all just some joke that he set up with his friends? Gabriella found herself silently praying and hoping that he was being serious and not trying to confuse her feelings for him.

"Do you really mean that Troy?" Gabriella asked, feeling tears of love building up in her eyes. Troy smiled at her and he nodded his head, running a hand through her raven hair.

"I do mean it Gabriella. The sparkle in your eyes could make the stars jealous. Gabriella, there has been something that I have been wanting to tell you for a really long time. And that's why I came over tonight." Troy told her, his eyes never looking away from hers. Gabriella stared into his sapphire eyes and she managed a smile. She liked where this was all going. She had a feeling that Troy was going to tell her what she wanted to hear. With a soft smile and a gentle nod, she urged Troy to say what he had to say. Troy returned the soft smile and he took hold of both her hands in his big broad ones and he didn't dare to hesitate what he had to say.

"Gabriella…I really care about you. But not like a friend. I like…no…I love you. I have for a long time now. I wanted to tell you for such a long time, but I just never knew when to tell you. Now is the best time because we are under the stars, no one is there to interrupt us and I am with the girl I want to be with. I have to wish peace for everybody else, when I just need it for you and me! I really do love you Gabriella; I wouldn't do anything to hurt you." Troy told her, nothing but the truth coming out of his voice. Gabriella smiled and she let a single tear of happiness fall from her eye. She must've been dreaming. The emotion that was taking over her was more than she could comprehend.

"I would never want to hurt you either Troy. I have had these feelings for you since I met you and I just never knew if you liked me too. But now that I know that you do…I don't want to hold back. I just can't." Gabriella said, only becoming more eager to have the feel of Troy Bolton's lips against hers. Troy smiled in return as he lifted a hand and he cupped her cheek into his hand, softly and soothingly caressing her cheek, something he had longed to do since the moment he met her.

"No one's here to stop us." Troy said above a whisper as he moved in slowly and he captured her lips with his. Gabriella gladly returned the kiss as she allowed her hands to snake around Troy's neck and Troy's hand remained on her cheek while his other snaked around Gabriella's petite waist, just pulling her closer to his body, needing to feel her warmth and there was no space between them. Gabriella moaned as Troy's tongue entered her awaiting mouth, wasting no time in deepening the kiss. Just when Gabriella thought that she would die without ever feeling Troy's lips against hers, she suddenly felt Troy pull away at the sound of loud yelling.

"GABRIELLA LEAH ANNE MONTEZ!" The sounds of her father's screaming almost shook the house. Gabriella and Troy stared at her father, with shock and fear in their eyes. He had caught them.

"Dad, please it's not what you think it is." Gabriella told him, trying to get him to calm down. But Louis did not let the anger leave his eyes as he stormed further into her room and he entered the balcony, anger pouring out of his eyes.

"It is exactly what I think it is! Is this why you haven't been able to sleep at night Gabriella?! Because you've been sneaking out with him! You don't know how disappointed I am in you Gabriella." Louis scolded his daughter, seeing her shrink in fear. Troy took Gabriella's hand, offering her comfort and he looked at Louis, trying to convince Louis that he and Gabriella were not doing anything bad.

"Mr. Montez, I'm Troy Bolton. I know that you must be thinking that Gabriella and I have been sneaking out but this is the first time I swear. I would never dream of hurting your daughter and I would…" Troy began to nobly say, but Louis wasted no time in cutting him off.

"Of course you would go after my daughter! She's young and beautiful. I know what people like you want to do with girls like her! I will not allow a scum bag like you to just come here and treat my daughter like some cheap little booty call!" Louis angrily hollered. Gabriella was enraged at her father's accusations, making Troy look like he was just using her for her body.

"Dad, don't talk to him like that! It's not like that!" Gabriella pleaded with her father, begging for him to see that she loved Troy and he loved her for who they were. But her father did not listen.

"I can talk to him whatever I want to say to him! If you don't get off my property now and stay away from my daughter, I will put a bullet in your head before you can even turn around!" Louis angrily threatened Troy, meaning every word he said. Feeling both offended and hurt, Troy gave Gabriella one last glance before shaking his head and climbing down her balcony through her tree. Gabriella watched him leave as tears began to fall from her eyes. She knew that her father was protective, but she didn't think that he would go as far as accusing her of sneaking out at night to do some dirty work. Gabriella turned back and glared at her father who just stared at her in disappointment and he left the balcony and eventually left her room. Gabriella looked back over the railing and she let more tears fall when she saw Troy walking halfway down the street, trying to erase everything that had just happened.

--

It had been a week since the fight on Gabriella's balcony. Troy hadn't talked to Gabriella since, and avoided her several time at school. Gabriella tried to talk to her, but Troy would always run off or he would get himself busy in a conversation with Chad. Gabriella knew that he was hurt and offended but she had nothing to do with what her father had said; she never would think that of him. Gabriella didn't talk to her father either. She purposely ignored his calls and she didn't bother talking to him. She was mad and hurt. Nothing her father could do would make Troy come back. Troy was banned from her home and he feared her father too much. Gabriella was so upset she couldn't even function properly and she kept zoning in and out of reality.

"Gabriella, you're doing it again." Taylor's voice told her. Gabriella snapped out of her daze and she realized that she was in Taylor's car with Sharpay.

"Sorry." Gabriella mumbled out. Sharpay rolled her eyes and she looked at Gabriella, unable to get over the big deal she was making over Troy.

"Gabriella, you need to get over it. Your dad did the right thing. Troy is just a scum bag. Your dad knows that he's out to hurt you." Sharpay coldly told Gabriella. Gabriella stared at her best friend, her anger slowly rising inside her.

"Why do you think that?" Gabriella asked, her fury slowly rising. Taylor nodded in agreement with Sharpay.

"Gabriella, Sharpay and I think that you can do so much better. You should go for someone who isn't a jerk. Maybe go for Jared Connors. He seems like he's really nice and more your speed." Taylor offered, not noticing the frustration in her best friend's eyes. Sharpay nodded her head as she pulled out her cell phone.

"That's a great option! I have his number in my phone, I'm going to call him and get him to hang out with us later." Sharpay said as she began to dial his number. That was the final straw; Gabriella couldn't take it anymore. She had to snap.

"STOP IT!" Gabriella abruptly yelled. Taylor and Sharpay froze in shock as they stared at their best friend. They had never seen Gabriella snap like this before.

"I'm so tired of you guys bringing me down like this! So what I like Troy Bolton. So what I want to fight for him. So what I'm crying myself to sleep because no one wants me to be with him. You guys are my best friends! You should be supporting me and encouraging me. You shouldn't be telling me that I can do better and that Troy is trash. I always supported your relationships with Chad and Zeke, so why can't you just support mine with Troy? I know that he's the captain but he is best friends with Chad and Zeke! Why are you allowed to date basketball players and not me?!" Gabriella challenged, frustration clearly being expressed in her voice.

"Gabriella, we're just watching out for you because we've seen Troy with his former girlfriends. Chad and Zeke even said that he's an animal! We are just doing what's best for you." Sharpay told her modestly. Taylor nodded in agreement as she drove through a green light.

"We're just giving you our opinions of him." Taylor said. Gabriella shook her head, anger still in her eyes.

"You guys have done more than just give your opinions! You guys have done everything in your power to make sure I didn't fall for him. I hope you're both happy now; Troy doesn't want to talk to me and my father has banned me from talking to him and I'm the one that's left heartbroken." Gabriella said, opening the car door and walking out at the red light, deciding that she would walk home the rest of the way. As Gabriella walked home, she realized how heartbroken she really was and she wanted to make herself cry, but she just didn't have it in her to cry. Gabriella sighed to herself as she walked into her house and she saw her father sitting in the living room, waiting for her to come home. He saw his daughter and he smiled warmly at her.

"Hi Gabriella." Louis greeted warmly. But Gabriella didn't reply back to him; she just dropped her bag at the front and she walked into her kitchen, not even acknowledging her father. When she entered the kitchen, her father followed right behind her.

"I bought a few chocolate croissants from the bakery if you want one." Louis offered, trying to get her to talk. Gabriella just glared at him as she grabbed a water bottle from the fridge and sipped it. Louis then decided he had enough and would cut to the chase.

"Alright, that's it. Why aren't you talking to me?" Louis demanded. Gabriella turned to her father and just stared at him, shocked he had the nerve to ask her that.

"You actually had the spine to ask me that! You hurt me dad! You hurt me and Troy and now he won't even talk to me. Taylor and Sharpay are constantly telling me that you are right and that you were right to make me miserable like this and no one even cares that I'm heartbroken. But yet, I sit here and think about everything that happened this past week and not a single tear runs down my cheek. Maybe it's because I'm too hurt to cry, or maybe I'm just to mad at you." Gabriella told her father, breaking her silence and letting her father know how much he hurt her.

"Gabriella, he's just another boy. You're going to meet a million of them in your lifetime. What makes this one so different?" Louis asked.

"What makes him so different dad? What makes him so different?! Maybe the fact that he's the only boy that doesn't want to use me for my body. Maybe the fact that he listen to me. Or maybe it's the fact that I'm happy when I'm with him and you can't bear to let me go since mom died!" Gabriella hollered, unable to maintain all her emotions.

"Don't bring your mother into this." Louis told her, his dark eyes never releasing its anger.

"Dad, wasn't there ever a time when you were in love with mom and there were times when everyone was trying to stop you but you just wanted to fight for her, regardless what everyone else says. Because, I found that in someone who makes me happy and makes me want to fight for them and I just wish that you would see that!" Gabriella hollered at her father, expecting him to scream and holler at her. But he didn't; he just stared at his daughter and nodded his head, in agreement with her.

"You're right. I shouldn't have to tell you that you can't fight for what you want. I've just been so afraid to let you go since I lost your mother. I can't stand the thought of losing my little girl like I lost your mother." Louis told his daughter, his voice going soft on him. Gabriella stared at her father and she just nodded in understanding.

"But I'm not a little girl anymore." Gabriella stated as she walked out of the kitchen and then eventually out of her house, knowing that her father knew where she was going off to.

When Gabriella saw that she was in front of Troy's house, she opened up the gate and she ran into his backyard and she climbed up the large oak tree that was by his roof. Unlike her, Troy didn't have a balcony but his window was right on the roof and Gabriella had to have amazing balance to be on the roof. Once she was on the roof and in front of Troy's bedroom window, she peered in and saw Troy on his bed, tossing around his basketball, deep in thought. Staring at him, Gabriella knocked on the window, startling and surprising him when he saw her at his window. He got up from the bed and he opened the window, allowing her into his bedroom. He looked into her copper eyes and saw she had tears building up in her eyes.

"What are you doing here?" He asked in confusion. Holding back tears, she pushed back his hair and smiled sadly.

"I don't care what they say. I'm in love with you Troy Bolton. They can't stop me." Gabriella told him. Troy stared into her eyes and shook his head as he held her hand.

"Gabriella, if you have to lose everything and everyone just to be with me then I don't want you to risk it. I don't want you to give up everything just for me." Troy told her, not breaking eye contact with her. Allowing tears to slip down her cheeks, Gabriella moved in closer to Troy and she pressed her forehead against Troy's and they remained in silence for several moments as Gabriella tried to hold back her tears.

"You are my everything, Troy. The world is going to throw us a million reasons why this isn't going to work out between us, but I'm armed with one reason why it will. I love you. I don't care what Taylor, Sharpay, my dad or even you say I can't stop loving you Troy. And every time I'm alone, I see your face. Yet everyone around me thinks that I'm going crazy." Gabriella told him, nuzzling her nose against his.

"Are you?" Troy asked. Gabriella's brown eyes met his and she shrugged her shoulders, allowing a few more tears to fall.

"Maybe. But I'm going crazy for you. I am so sorry for everything you had to go through, but I don't care what any of them say; I know what I want and I want to be with you." Gabriella told him, the silent tears still streaming her cheeks. For the longest time, Troy just stared into her brown orbs and said nothing. It wasn't until he lifted his hand to cup her cheek and caress her cheek that he allowed a smile to grow across his face.

"I love you too." Troy said just above a whisper and he moved in and kissed her passionately. He brought both his hands to her face and caressed her cheeks as Gabriella's arms wrapped around his waist and brought him closer to her body that was aching for his touch. They remained like that for several breathtaking moments before they parted and smiled at each other. Troy's smile grew wide as he gently caressed Gabriella's cheeks.

"Thank you." He said abruptly.

"For what?" Gabriella asked. Troy's smile continued to grow as he continued to stroke her cheeks.

"For not listening to what they said." Troy told her and pulled her into another kiss, filled with longing and passion.

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_**Please read and review and give me ideas for an HSM story or a CR story! Love you guys,**_

_**Alanna xo  
**_


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